Project Overview
The Pool Punisher is the first-ever giant, inflatable tank pool toy with a built-in water cannon. The team came to us at the start of July 2020 with a time-sensitive request to run a fun and splashy (no pun intended!) short-term summer PR campaign to make the most of the hot weather. Along with hoping to maximize their potential for summer sales, they wanted to increase their online exposure and get in front of the right audiences.
The Problem
The Pool Punisher had already seen fantastic press coverage before pursuing PR, with successes in Huffington Post, Yahoo!, and Best Products. Still, they wanted to get into more niche markets that hadn’t been exposed to The Pool Punisher yet, like parenting magazines, new product publications, and mom blogs. They were initiating their summer sales push later than planned, but wanted strong press coverage to boost their brand visibility and exposure during their peak sales potential months.
The Strategy
Our team made a fast start and devised a strategy that focused on sending sample products of The Pool Punisher to publications and blogs to secure summer pool toy product spotlights, reviews, and roundup pieces. Our focus was on reaching parenting publications and mom blogs that showcased and reviewed new toys.
In addition to this, we explored other story verticals that best represented the Pool Punisher, pitching the product to military publications and new product outlets. Something we caught that made the Pool Punisher more than just a summer product was also the fantastic story behind it.
George Kramb and his five-year-old son came up with the idea together and shared a special bond behind the creation of the pool toy. We knew this was a great summer story to lean into. So, we created a parallel pitching schedule that focused solely on this story — pitching it to mainstream news outlets in their local market of San Diego — exploring all potential avenues within the tight time constraints.
Business Impact (results)
The Pool Punisher saw success across all media verticals pursued by Otter PR. Not only did we secure a CBS San Diego midweek news report and online article, but features spotlighting the pool toy were also published in print publications like Baton Rouge Parents Magazines and Houston Family Magazine, as well as digital outlets like Orlando Moms Collective, YourModernFamily, and Daily Mom.
We also organized Giveaways with huge online communities like 24/7 Moms, which has a Facebook following of nearly 1 million. The Pool Punisher also caught on in grittier publications, landing a glowing 2,000-word feature in the prestigious military publication Task & Purpose, reviewed by a former army tanker.
The Pool Punisher saw massive exposure in previously untouched audiences, received numerous new online reviews, and boosted its overall brand exposure and backlinks. The success of the two-month condensed summer campaign encouraged them to extend into the latter half of the year to aim for placements in holiday gift guides.
